CONCORD —The Community Colleges of New Hampshire Foundation has been awarded a $25,000 education grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The Grant will be used to expand access for New Hampshire high school students to earn college credit through the Running Start program and will focus on increasing participation in high schools currently under-served by the program.

Running Start is a program offered by the Community College System of NH (CCSNH) that enables the State’s high school students to take courses for dual high school and college credit, increasing college access and enabling students and their families to save on college costs. Courses taught through the Running Start program are college courses taught at the high school by credentialed high school faculty as part of the daily class schedule. In the first year of the program, the Community College System of New Hampshire offered 10 courses of Running Start in 7 high schools. This past year, CCSNH offered over 700 Running Start courses with over 5,300 enrollments at 65 public high schools statewide.

The grant will be targeted at four areas that are essential to expanding the program to more New Hampshire students, which will be targeted by this grant: access to college level textbooks, support for teacher credentialing, funding assistance for placement testing, and supporting opportunities for more high school students to visit college campuses to learn about postsecondary opportunities and careers.

Chancellor Ross Gittell had this to say about the grant: “We are very grateful to Bank of America for choosing to focus its resources on this innovative educational program that returns great value for New Hampshire students and their families. Our community colleges are committed to providing students with the quality post-secondary education that is needed for career success. As an institution, we are continually identifying new opportunities to make college more affordable. One of the ways we can achieve this is by partnering with the business community. Bank of America recognizes that by removing access barriers and helping students transition successfully into post-secondary education, we are investing in our future skilled workforce.”

“Running Start is an innovative, growing program that will allow more high school students to achieve their dream of a college education,” said Ken Sheldon, Bank of America New Hampshire President. “This, in turn, will benefit the local economy by bolstering an already advanced and diverse workforce.”

The Running Start Grant will be used in high schools in all areas of the State served by the Community College System of New Hampshire.